Handing Out the Grades Following Penn State’s Loss to Michigan

Well, that happened. As you may have heard Penn State lost to the tune of a 41-17 thumping by No. 5 Michigan that looked even worse than the final score. This is a game the Nittany Lions will want to bury out behind the Lasch Building but also a game they shouldn’t forget too quickly. Either way here are the grades.

Offense: D

Penn State couldn’t really run it, couldn’t really get open and went 4-for-12 on third down. Sean Clifford will end his Penn State career having never thrown an interception against Michigan but a 7-for-19 afternoon wasn’t much to write home about, especially in a game of such high importance. Clifford wasn’t Penn State’s biggest issue on Saturday but he wasn’t much of a threat either. Mitchell Tinsley had a few nice catches as did Trey Wallace, but it wasn’t enough to get Penn State moving down the field on a regular basis. A solid first drive to open the second half was the really only good thing this group did in the total 18:04 it held on to the ball on Saturday. Young Nicholas Singleton and Kaytron Allen couldn’t get going against the best defense they’ve seen and managed just 35 yards total on 12 carries. Tough sledding for this group today. Clifford’s 62-yard run was the longest of his career. Penn State did only give up two sacks, but that’s not as good as it sounds when you consider Penn State only dropped back to pass 29 times.

Defense: D+

Michigan ran for 418 yards, went 11-for-17 on third down and averaged 7.1 yards per play. Not a great day for Manny Diaz’s group at any level. Ji’Ayir Brown had nine tackles, and Penn State had seven tackles for a loss but not much else was good from this group. Losing is one thing, even getting blown out is one thing, but it has been a good long while since Penn State has gotten this badly beaten physically on defense. This group did spend almost 42 minutes on the field, so some credit due for not going on strike in the second half and demanding the offense do something. A weird pick-six *helps* this grade and so too holding Michigan to three field goals in the red zone. Otherwise it’s hard to give this group too much love. The only reason this grade gets a + is simply because giving up 16 points in a half against Michigan isn’t awful and at some point you have to put some of the wear and tear blame on Penn State’s offense for not staying on the field.

Special Teams: B

Jake Pinegar made his only field goal attempt of the day and on an afternoon that saw everything else go poorly for Penn State, the special teams unit managed not to add its name to the list. One kick off out of bounds wasn’t great but a very windy day in Michigan Stadium has to get some credit and/or blame there. Same to Barney Amor who was pedestrian for once, but he only punted three times and had to fight the wind most of the day. Return game was unremarkable but coverage was fine. Not much to note here, and that’s maybe the only good thing Penn State had going for it on a day there was a lot of bad to write down.

Coaching: D+

It’s hard sometimes to know what bad coaching looks like because so often players simply make mistakes even though they’ve been told repeatedly not to do something. It’s kind of like missing free throws. It’s not like teams don’t practice them but it happens anyway. All the same, Saturday felt like one of those situations when everyone shows up to a party thinking someone else brought the beer and then there’s nothing to drink because nobody actually brought any. Similarly, Penn State didn’t seem to have anything for Michigan on either side of the ball, seemed confused at moments it shouldn’t have and generally appeared unprepared for the moment. Good coaches get their butts kicked from time to time. It happens and because a really good team plays really well doesn’t mean you’re didn’t show up, but Penn State should be better than this and it wasn’t. You can point all sorts of fingers all sorts of places but James Franklin is getting paid too much to have his team look this overpowered in a situation when injuries and bigger picture issues aren’t really part of the equation. Sure, maybe Michigan has more talent and is better coached but holy moly. Generally you can only coach a team so far, but you can coach them further than this. The grade gets a + because of the opening drive in the second half and the appearance that some adjustments were made.

Overall: D

This game reminds me a bit of when Bill O’Brien and Penn State went to Ohio State in 2013 and got blown out before the game even really started. At the end of the day it’s not a good thing if a game reminds you of a time when Penn State was sanctioned. Losing happens, and yes you get blown out from time to time, but this wasn’t even all that close from the outset and that’s a rarity for Penn State these days.